Penguins 4, Rangers 3 (shootout) … post-game notes & quotes

– The Rangers were defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3, in the shootout tonight at Madison Square Garden. It was the second straight game the Blueshirts went to the shootout after not having a shootout through their first 33 games of the season.

– The Blueshirts are now 16-17-2 overall (34 pts), including a 6-9-2 mark at home this season.

– The Rangers’ power play was 1-4 (6:57) in the contest, and is now 7-34 (20.6%) in the last 11 games.

– The Blueshirts out-hit the Penguins, 30-25, with 15 players registering at least one hit and eight players credited with two or more hits. Derek Dorsett led all skaters with a season-high, seven hits in the contest.

– New York won 36-71 faceoffs (50.7%) in the contest, led by Brian Boyle (9-12, 75%) and Dominic Moore (7-10, 70%). The Rangers are now 267-482 (55.4%) on faceoffs through eight games in the month of December.

Player notes:

– Mats Zuccarello registered a goal and a power play assist in 18:35 of ice time. The goal was his seventh of the season, which establishes a single-season career high. He has now tallied a point in eight of the last 13 games, registering five multi-point performances and 13 points (five goals, eight assists) during the stretch. Zuccarello leads the team in scoring with 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in the last 27 games since his healthy scratch on Oct. 24 at Philadelphia.

– Derick Brassard notched the game-tying goal on the power play with 1:46 remaining in regulation, was credited with two hits and two blocked shots, and won 6-10 faceoffs (60%) in 18:29 of ice time. He has tallied four of his last six points while on the power play (two goals, two assists), and is now five points shy of his 200th career NHL point.

– John Moore registered his second career multi-point effort with two assists, and posted three shots, two hits, and a plus-two rating in a season-high, 20:50 of ice time. He now has seven points on the season, which ties his career-high for points in a season.

– Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves through regulation and overtime, and turned aside four of five shootout attempts, while making his 538th career appearance. He has posted a record of 10-14-2 overall, including a 5-8-2 mark at home this season. Lundqvist is now tied with Ed Giacomin for third on the Rangers all-time goaltender appearance list.

– Carl Hagelin notched a goal while skating four on four and was credited with two takeaways in 15:43 of ice time. He has registered a goal in each of the last two games, and is now tied for third on the team with seven goals on the season.

– Benoit Pouliot tallied a power play assist and was credited with two hits in 13:42 of ice time. He has tallied four points (one goal, three assists) in his last six games.

– Brad Richards registered an assist and led all forwards with 23:14 of ice time. He has tallied 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the last 11 games, including three assists in the last four.

– Justin Falk recorded an assist and was credited with two blocked shots in 12:56 of ice time. He has tallied two assists in his last five games.

– Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh led the Rangers in shots on goal with seven and five, respectively. Stepan’s seven shots tied his career-high, while McDonagh’s five shots established a season-high.

Quotebook:

Alain Vigneault on tonight’s game… “I thought we came out with a real strong first period, our best period in a long time. We kept them to one chance and had four good chances. Their goaltender made some good saves. In the second they took the lead on the power play and we were able to come back and tie it up. We haven’t come back in very many situations this year and in the third we came back from a two goal deficit. Our power play scored a big goal at a key moment to tie it up for us. We had a chance to win it in OT and we had a few chances in the shootout but couldn’t get it.”

Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game… “It was a big point. I played a pretty good game I think. I just hate losing in the shootout. Obviously a goalie plays a big part in this and I am happy with a point, but right now we need two. I am going to watch tape tomorrow to see what I can do better, but I am happy with the way I played and the way we played as a group. I thought we did a lot of good things.”

Mats Zuccarello on tonight’s game… “We battled hard, came back, and Hank gave us a good chance of winning. We didn’t come through today and it’s a disappointing feeling, but at least we got a point. We were down 3-1 there, so it’s a good comeback.”

in your experience and your hockey wisdom, do you think the Rangers reacted appropriately after Kunitz “ran” Hank?

i stated in the other comments that despite it being OT, they have to respond there and really all i saw was a delayed weak oush from girardi. i havent seen the replay since the game but hank was out and kunitz didnt look like a Neal there and purposely hit him. However, if that happened to my goalie in my bronze beginner league i would have launched at kunitz. im not for stupid penalties or retribution every time there is contact but dont you think they have to mob kunitz and every pen on the ice immediately after that happens? if so, do you think that is further proof this team is soft? and why are they?

I agree, nancie. The response needed to be at least a little more snarly than that. You don’t need to wipe out the power play, but you can facewash with some unpleasantries, at the very least. The Rangers don’t have very many players who are willing to do that kind of stuff.

At least Del Zotto, I thought, acted appropriately with the crosscheck after that Penguin gave Lundqvist a snow shower earlier … and Hagelin scored on the 4-on-4 that it created.